EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – SIUE men's soccer outshot Florida Gulf Coast 14-5 Thursday, but the Eagles' Caio Oliveria cashed in on two opportunities to lead FCGU to a 2-1 win over the Cougars on opening night at Korte Stadium.
It's only the second home loss for SIUE since the start of the 2023 season. It gives FGCU Head Coach Oliver Twelvetrees his first Division I head coaching win.
Oliveira's first strike came in the 18th minute when he unloaded a right foot from the top of the arc to the upper corner of the goal. The Eagles took the lead into halftime.
It looked as if SIUE had equalized in the 56th minute when Carles Zomeño fed Evan Howard into the box. Howard banged a shot off the cross bar from 12 yards away, keeping it 1-0 FGCU.
Oliveira doubled FGCU's lead in the 61st minute on a counterattack. Oliveira carried the ball from midfield down the left side and into the box all the way to the end line, where he slid it home past SIUE goalkeeper Noah Scheidweiler for the 2-0 lead.
Zomeño got the Cougars on the board in the 76th minute when he headed home at the back post after a cross from Archie McDonnell. The goal was originally disallowed due to offside but upon review was determined to be good. It is as close as SIUE would get.
Zomeño and Ethan Hackenberg paced the Cougars with four shots apiece.
Scheidweiler made two saves in his SIUE debut. FGCU goalkeeper Oliver Weng made four saves.
The Cougars finished with seven corner kicks while not conceding a corner to the Eagles.
SIUE goes on the road for the first time in the regular season for two games next week in Colorado. The Cougars will face Air Force Aug. 28 before traveling to Denver for an Aug. 31 game.
